Friday, June 3, 2016
Dear KNBR-Cumulus, Your People You Treat Like Crap Need Some Support And I'm In (Video)
Watch the video above. Its well worth a few moments of your time.
Some of you know my well-documented rants about KNBR; sure, a lot of it deals with some of the shows and people who man the mikes --it gets personal sometimes but it is, after all, not about real life issues, issues like the above video where good people, mostly, are crying out for help.
So, while I may have some professional peccadillos about some of the guys above, I SALUTE all of them and wish them nothing but the best in the right to EARN a DECENT, LIVABLE, WAGE.
This is courageous and brave, my opinion. But more than anything else, it shows respect too and if you don't respect yourself, well then you might as well hang it up.
So, Mr. Conner and Mr. Hughes; Mr. Sweeney and Mr. Webb, I hope this helps.
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KNBR is dog shit & Radnich is the biggest peanut in the pile.
ReplyDeleteRadnich and Kruger have said "We don't need a union". But they use every benefit it offers.
ReplyDelete$12 is slave wages. Shocking really that some have been there years with not a single raise while the Dickeys give each other million dollar bonuses.
And..as the video shows...there is no equal opportunity at KNBR to be ripped off and work like a slave.
The new Ceo or prez? Same as the old boss. Its why she was hired in that corporation.
It's shameful Murph, Mac, and the other crony hosts make 20 times what these guys make, especially P-conn who's been there as long as M & M. Is it a matter that Scumulus doesn't recognize Aftra?
ReplyDeleteBut but Kate just bought a house in the Bay Area on those wages?
ReplyDeleteShe mentions it in her latest ads....
She must be doing well?
Sorry, as much as your video is heartfelt and deals with reality, the real fact is you won't get shit from your employer. They'll find someone else whose dick is hard to work in sports radio and they'll pay them minimum wage and tell you to shove off. Guys, you are expendable. It hurts, but it's true. You know it. If you don't, wake the fuck up.
ReplyDeleteYou should look at the people who work for teams. Most aren't getting paid any better than you folks. That's the way it is. Most employees get token raises and have to room with someone to make ends meet. What fun is that? What kind of health benefits do you get? Probably none or really bad. Guess what? Another Warriors championship item won't pay your premium.
It's hard cheese to live in the Bay Area. With the money you're getting, you're probably living at home with mommy and daddy or with four other people like in a Chinatown tenement. Want to do that for most of your life? At least you can transport that autographed Madison Bumgarner bobblehead as you move from place-to-place. Or will you sell it on eBay to pay for your groceries?
And truth be told, the programming on your radio station sucks. It's probably not your fault, but it's hard for people with normal gray matter to listen to what seems like 50 minutes of commercials and weak tea content.
I certainly hope you have more talent and brains than to take calls from the brain dead who think they know sports. These are guys who are selling pipe to rock heads for a living and have no life. Or they're geeks sitting in front of a computer testing software or selling software over the phone and think they're experts because they get the scoop from Gary Radnich, who knows more about insulting respected professionals than what he's really paid to talk about.
Take a good hard look at what you're doing and where the industry is going. It's heading to the shitter. Lieberman writes about it daily. He knows. Just step back and listen to your own station. There's no objectivity. If the sport or the teams aren't on your station, you can't give them much love. But with 50 minutes of commercials an hour, how can you tell?
Maybe this is a sign for you to get the fuck out. You can't live on free Amici's or whatever the free flavor of the day is forever. You can find suitable work in other phases of the sports industry. You can even live normally and still sniff jocks.
Don't get your hopes up too high. You probably screwed yourselves out of any future in sports media by doing this video. No one wants a shit disturber. Then again, maybe someone is trying to tell you something.
Wonder what Radnich thinks?
ReplyDeleteAll I saw were white males complaining....That's the first problem right there.
ReplyDeleteAhhh, racism. Love how it's OK to be anti-white so openly these days. It really, really rights any wrongs that happened in the distant past. So great, that "whitey" is being made to PAY!
DeleteY'all chose to go into 'journalism' and you can't afford San Francisco? Join the crowd.
ReplyDeleteSad thing is...each and every one of those men will now see some sort of Cumulus retaliation. Cumulus will do something. Bet on that. Only it wont be a raise.
ReplyDeleteI get he feeling that the guys in that video will never work in the industry again.
ReplyDeleteAs employees in at "at will" workplace, I hope these fellas understood that they were signing there own termination notices with that video -- unless they truly are as valuable as they assume.
ReplyDeleteWow. A powerful video. I was not aware of this practice.
ReplyDeleteWell done without a lot of sappy false sympathy.
Is Larry Baer (the champion of the little guy) aware of this?
His silence is revealing.
Larry Baer? Champion of the little guy? Did you recently fall down and hit yourself on the head?
DeleteThe guys who appeared on this video are some strong individuals for speaking up. I tip my hat to them.
ReplyDeleteGet another job.Go where the money is.
ReplyDeleteYer a regular Mary An-tony.
DeleteIt's a business. These kids mean well, but what they don't understand is if you dump them all you don't lose a single listener.
ReplyDeleteFrom a financial standpoint, it well may be that is it not that Cumulus won't pay a decent wage, it is quite likely that Cumulus CAN'T pay a decent wage. I come from the finance side and my feeling is that there is a real good chance that Cumulus won't be around at year-end, not at least as a free-standing company. iHeart is the same way, maybe even worse. Some of those stations are gonna go dark. Call it evolution, call it karma, call it bad choices. Net-net: get your resumes ready.....
ReplyDeleteEvery single KNBR/KGO/KSFO/KFOG/KSAN on-air host is making an excellent salary. But Cumulus can't afford to pay the support people $20/hour? By the way, none of these stations are "gonna go dark."
Delete@4:01 -- I respectfully disagree: KNBR CAN afford to pay a decent wage, because although the Cumulus mother ship is in the tank and for a variety of deserved reasons, KNBR itself is profitable, largely on the backs of the air product put out by these people. Further, if these people all walked out simultaneously, it WOULD affect their bottom line, as you cannot realistically go hire a whole new crew off the street and pretend that programming will not be affected.
DeleteCumulus has not raised any of these people's wages in 10 years, literally -- I work for a different set of calls in the building, and they haven't given me so much as a COLA for 10 years, either. Bridge toll has gone up, gasoline has gone up, food has gone up, and don't even get me started on rent. Meanwhile, we're about to get lapped by *minimum wage.* It's insulting.
Do you really think that the contribution of the workers behind KNBR has the same value as the work of highschoolers employed at McDonalds? That they could be as easily replaced? Where, prey tell, are we supposed to live on this pittance, while we bring you your sports fix? If everybody walked out of here during one of those Warrior playoff games they put up on 3 stations here, you'd have your answer, faster than an order of fries! If there was an embarrassing failure to deliver on a contractual obligation to one of these teams as a result, they'd suddenly "find" the money, I assure you.
On-air hosts are typically under services contract. They are difficult to just replace. And although $20/hour seems reasonable for San Francisco (support people in San Diego at one group I know about earn just a little less than that), these people wanting to organize should know that when they become union members, there is the steep initiation fee and periodic dues that must be paid, and that needs to be subtracted from this new amount they expect to earn. While I'm not saying organizing would be a bad thing (often it's not), you need to think it through all the way. Don't let the emotions overpower your reasoning ability.
ReplyDeleteFire Gary and give his salary to the rest of KNBR and this problem is solved!
ReplyDeleteKate, shouldn't you be shilling some service for your new house?
DeleteIt's interesting after the death of Ali and all the kudos he's receiving for his anti-war stance that non of the high-paid hosts are speaking up for their co-workers who do the dirty work. These guys make hundreds of thousands of dollars while they know they're co-workers make peanuts. If you listen to the hosts, you can tell which of them are corporate lackeys. Thank you, @11:38. I agree that companies have to make a respectable profit margin to exist, but that doesn't mean you can't pay people and there has to be such a disparity between production and on-air people. I actually think the on-air people would be easier to replace than the production folks - with the Giants, Warriors, and Niners, people are going to listen to KNBR anwyay. Look at how their numbers plummet between seasons - and it's really the only game in town. I was listening to 95.7 today, and in comparison, their morning drive hosts are dopes.
ReplyDeleteIf you don't like what you are getting paid...find another job. No one is making you work at KNBR. Simple as that. That's why I left the on-air world 10+ years ago. There is no money in radio anymore unless you are a high profile personality or better yet...a sales person. The REAL money at KNBR is going to the sales staff. I know a few on that staff that make well over $250K a year. BTW...anyone can be a producer. You push buttons and run a board and maybe screen a phone call. And with all the technology today, there really is no skill to it anymore. Also, is that all you strive to be in life? Running someone else's show? A board op? You went to college to be a board op? Make your own destiny in life and quit begging for handouts.
ReplyDelete